Improvement in paint-cans



NITE STATES ATENT OFFICE JAMES F. DRUMMOND, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN PAINT-CANS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 168,001, dated September 21, 1875; application filed July 24, 1875.

(JAsE B.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JAMES F. DRUMMOND,

of the city, county, and State of New York,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cans or Boxesfor Paints and other materials or liquids; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, which forms part of this specification.

' This invention relates to that description of hermetically-sealed cans for paints and other materials, in which the can is provided with a cover capable of being opened when it isrequired to gain access to the can, and of being closed up with sufficient tightness again to exclude dust and prevent drying up or waste of the contents of the can. To these ends, and to facilitate the opening of the hermetically-sealed can, it is desirable to have the cover sealed by a cement-joint in preference or in distinction to a soldered one, inasmuch as a soldered joint requires to be cut when opening the lid, generally tothe injury or destruction of the latter, whereas a cement-joint may be torn open. There are practical difiiculties, however, in the way of hermetically closing the can by a cement-sealed cover, and in the way of providing for filling the can through the opening closed by said cover; and my invention relates to a can having a permanently closed and soldered filling opening at its one end and a cement-scaled opening and reclosing cover at its other end. This construction also provides for making the cementjoint of the cover from the inside of the can through the filling opening in the opposite end of the latter.

The invention consists in a combination with the body of the can having a permanently closed and soldered filling opening at its one end, and a free outside opening and reclosing cover at its opposite end, of an independent or supplementary hermetically-closed inside cover or disk to theend of the can closed by the free outside cover, whereby the latter is prevented from sticking to the body of the can, andv may readily be opened without injury to it, so that said cover is kept intact for reclosing; also, whereby increased facility is afforded for opening the can by removal of the inside cover or disk, Which may be hermetically closed by a cement-joint from the inside of the can.

Figurelrepresents a vertical section of a can in the course of construction, according to the invention, and with the opening and reclosing cover uppermost, but before hermetically closing by a cement-joint the inside or supplementary cover, and before permanently closing by a soldered-joint the filling opening at the opposite end of the can. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the cam in a reversed position before permanently closing the filling opening, but showing the inside cover at the opposite end of the can as hermetically sealed by a cement-joint, and with the outside cover in its place. Fig. 3 is a vertical section, in part, of the cement-sealed end of the can, upon an enlarged scale.

A is the body of a can or box, of cylindrical or other shape, but made with a contracted mouth, 12, so that the outside lid or cover B, when brought down over it or closed, only bears on that portion of the body which joins the tapering mouth, and so that a space is provided outside the end or edge of the tapering mouth for the overlapping of a supplementary or inside cover, 0. This supplementary cover 0 may be a simple disk of metal or other suitable material, and is used to hermetically close the mouth of the can by a cement-joint, c, and after the can has been opened for use said supplementary cover may be dispensed with or thrown away, and the main or outside cover B be exclusively used for reclosing the can with sufficient tightness to exclude dust and prevent drying or wasteof the contents of the can. The outside cover B 1s accordingly a free one,.and does not re- .quire to be cemented, but is simply fitted to its place over the month end of the can, and

may be temporarily secured by any number of narrow tongues d, which may be formed when striking up said cover, and, afterthe latter has been fitted to its place, be tacked by solder e to the body of the can, but which in nowise constitute a continuous soldered joint, and may be readily detached from the body of the can, so that the cover B may be easily removed, and is kept intact or in shape for reclosin g the can.

Before fitting on the free outside cover B the inside or supplementary cover 0 is fitted to its place over the mouth end of the can,

and the cover B then put on and tacked by t down, as represented in Fig. 2, and the ce-' ment to seal or hermetically close the supplementary cover C to or over the month end of the can is introduced through an opening, D,- in the other end of the can. This opening D is also used to fill the can, and is afterward permanently closed and soldered by an independent disk or plate for the purpose.

The cement used to make the joint 0 may be such as has been used for such purposes, or as is insoluble in the material contained within the can. When the can is designed to contain eatables said cement might be composed of glycerine and gelatine, but I do not restrict myself to any particular kind of cement.

A groove, f, may be made around the outer edge portion of the supplementary cover 0 to hold the cement of the joint 0 and to receive the month end of the can within it, and so that any cement passing said end will be caught or held by the edge of said cover which' overlaps the mouth I), thus keeping the outside cover B free from cement, which would cause it to adhere to the body of the can. A corresponding groove or bead, g, may also be made in the cover B to receive within it the protruding back of the groove f.

After the removal or opening of the lid B to get at the contents of the can it will only be necessary to insert the point of a knife under the overlapping edge of the hermeticallyiclosed disk or supplementary cover G, and

then, or when suitably loosened, to tear said cover from its cementsealed joint 0. This is done without injury to the outside lid or cover B, which is used for reclosing the can, as hereinbefore specified.

The two covers B and 0 form a compound cover, having a cement-joint to seal or hermetically close the can, and which, after being opened, may be used to reclose the can.

I c1aim The combination, with the body of the can, having a permanently closed and soldered filling opening at its one end, and a free outside opening and reclosing cover at its oppo 

